Milwaukee Public Schools' Students Earn Scholarships Though German Language Essay Contest

Press release from Milwaukee Public Schools:

June 22, 2020

Congratulations to MPS students from throughout the district who have earned scholarships from the German Language and School Society of Wisconsin! Awards have been made ranging from $50 to $2,500 following the society’s annual exam and essay contest.

Students were required to write an essay of at least five paragraphs in German with a time limit of 30 minutes. The essay topic was announced at the beginning of the test. Students were not allowed to use textbooks or dictionaries or to ask for assistance. Essays were judged on originality, grammar, vocabulary, and how the topic was addressed by the student. Essays were combined with students’ results on the American Association of Teachers of German (AATG) National German Exam.

“We are incredibly proud of our students this year,” said Janelle Pfaller, teacher at Milwaukee German Immersion School and Milwaukee School of Languages. “Mastering a second language is a skill that opens doors and will benefit students for a lifetime.” This year, Pfaller was a recipient of a Herb Kohl Teacher Fellow Award.

Congratulations to all our scholarship winners! You make us #MPS Proud!

Deutscher Sprach- und Schulverein (DSSV) Awards 2020

Scholarships ranged from $50 to $200. Larger awards are noted below.

GE Healthcare Mark Haberberger Award—$2,500

Lucy Steffes, Rufus King High School

Deutscher Sprach- und Schulverein (DSSV) Award—$1,500

Sven Mattheis, Rufus King High School

Milwaukee School of Languages

Teachers: Janelle Pfaller and Aurelia Schumacher

Samuel Anderson

Anja Arnhold ($750)

Sophie Beyer

Gisele Bridges

Nicholas Charnon

Ian Cranfield

Lorelei Dittl

Abigail Domena

Henry Dossett

Tristan Engelmann

Merce Fernandez ($750)

Lucy Finch

Catherine Fink

Thomas Foesterling

Samuel Forgie

Johan Fritz

Samuel Gagnier

Sophie Gagnier

Erik Geier

Samuel Gende

Noah Gouvion

Lydia Haase ($750)

Jayson Hahn

Angelina Hamburger

Sadira Harris

Ian Hunt

Brynne Kehoe

Seanna Kuerk

Amy Madson

Olivia May

Preston Meyer

Hanna Nelson

Elena Pasbrig

Rachel Pollock

Ian Rasmussen

Erin Roney

Emma Sachs ($500)

Rebekah Sachs

Bianca Sampson

Ada Scharfenberger

Henry Schmid

Christian Schumacher

Brandon Smith

Paighten Smith

Maja Synovic

Aethelred Templin ($500)

Vienna Tomkalski

Thomas VandeBurg

Regan Weeks

Gianna Williams

Logan Williams

Shelby Woida

Rade Zakula

Rufus King International School

Teacher: Nathan Wichert

Sarah Flores-Castillo

Noelle Glazewski

Eva Groeschl ($750)

Renee Harris ($750)

Sadie Richards

Corina Sayrs

Erika Scannell

Joseph Scannell

Maria Scannell ($500)

Audrey Steffes

The Deutscher Sprach- und Schulverein (DSSV) or German Language and School Society of Wisconsin, Inc. was founded in Milwaukee in 1956. The Society’s primary goal is “to promote and stimulate interest in and understanding of the German language and culture, by means of an annual German Essay contest.” Interested students should visit the society website at www.dssvwi.org.

This press release was produced by Milwaukee Public Schools. The views expressed here are the author’s own.